


Changes

by PokeLowell



Series: After Effects [1]
Category: Digimon Frontier
Genre: Developing Powers, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Past Character Death, Post-Canon, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-04
Updated: 2018-03-04
Packaged: 2019-03-26 17:24:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,860
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13862400
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PokeLowell/pseuds/PokeLowell
Summary: When they come back from the digital world, a lot of healing needs to be done. But the warriors earn more than they bargain for when they return from their journey.





	Changes

Changes

* * *

 

When they first came back from the Digital World, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Aside from the quartet they send home, no one else had any recollections of the occurrences in that world. It was their little secret. Something that only the ten of them could speak about and share their fears about. 

There was no doubt if another problem was to occur all ten of them would be sent back. The world was being rewritten, and with every passing day their minds would wander to how their old friends faired. Their several month long journey just wasn’t something that would leave them all. For better or for worse. But the Warriors of the group had their own problems.

Nightmares were an early occurrence. After the adrenaline had finally came down, their actions had finally came crashing down on them. The phantom pains. The memories. Near deletion. Katsuharu could remember every detail of when his fractal code threatened to be stolen by the Knights. They knew the digital world was dangerous, but that was his first real encounter with near death. And that left him feeling like shit.

He could certainly share those pains with his group. But if he was only feeling that from  _ one _ encounter with the Knights, he feared what went on with the Warriors. The Warriors who actually fought, with their spirits as armor. How many times did they almost die? Did they get beaten within inches of their life? Katsuharu hadn’t dared brought up his own fears to Tommy. He could see it in the boy. No longer he was a cry baby, but in ways he wasn’t completely a child anymore either. The innocence was still there, but for a ten year old he had many demons still.

And for the Warriors, adjusting was a painful process. Not so much physically, though their bodies could handle a lot less than in the digital world. Their stamina had increased from all the battles… running… traveling by foot all those months. Physically they were in top condition with it only improving as they kept to outdoor activities. 

But mentally, they still had their weariness. While they were glad they could share some things with Katsuharu’s group, they couldn’t share  _ everything _ . JP could remember the dissolving feeling as Ranamon used her dark vapor on his bare form. There was no armor to protect him in her captivity as the vapor slowly burned the outside of his body It was nothing like taking the attack in digimon form. Every feeling only intensified from the pain he normally felt. The feeling of rain had never been friendly to him, and the experiences with the Warrior of Water only furthered that. 

Tommy still replayed the sacrifices of all their friends in his head. It was never intentional. The memories would always, just always appear when he never expected it. A trigger of a smell, or a person’s voice sounding far too familiar. Sorcermon… Nefertimon… Oryxmon… Baromon and Angemon… The digimon that resided on the moons before Lucemon obliterated them. So many lives lost. Lives that they  _ couldn’t _ save. The world may have been reborn, but it would take so long to rebuild. 

Zoe had similar sentiments in loss. But what stuck with her, were the fears. Fears Ranamon’s voice always kept pushing in her head… and fears of losing her team. She remembered the Toucanmon, of being the only one left with a spirit until they got to the Autumn Leaf Fair. She was their only defense, and one wrong move could have gotten not only her killed, but they as well. When she fell into the whirlpool… almost suffocating until her beast spirit appeared… If she hadn’t recovered in time… Even in Cherubimon’s lair, when she was the only one with her D-tector. The boys had all gone down. If Ophanimon hadn’t saved them, she knew she would have had to run. The boys would have made sure of that, because even if they couldn’t fight she could. They were her first friends and just like she would sacrifice everything for them, they would do the same. 

For Kouichi it had been the obvious. Out of the entire group, they believed him to hold most of the trauma. Though he’d never undermine their own feelings. But unlike them, he had actually died. He held both his memories as Duskmon, and of Lucemon destroying him. The pain in his dark attack that was so strong it had destroyed whatever body he was occupying as a spirit. The look on his friend’s faces. The look on Kouji’s face as he faded into nothingness. Into the darkness that he once learned to master. He legall,by definition was dead. Floating in an oblivion until his friends brought him back in the operating room. 

Their beloved Warrior of Light like to play off that he didn’t have problems. It was a good act, but they could all see through it. His overprotective nature for all of them,  _ especially _ Kouichi, gave it all away. He clung to his second chance of being with his brother, and finally meeting the woman that was his mother. His brother who had died in front of him. There were a lot of fights that could have affected Kouji. Honestly, they all had. But none more so than the fight with Lucemon. They had failed so much and their last mistake… It had cost them the life of his brother. He could feel the ache of the Warriors of Darkness in succession to his own. His feelings of loss mixed with Takuya’s burning rage for the Demon Lord.

Sometimes the others forgot Takuya had problems. The burning ball of flame that they named their leader always had a smile on his face and would do his best to keep a smile on their faces. That was just the way Takuya liked to keep it. He was their leader, someone that was meant to be a shoulder to lean on. There were some days worse than others… but he would still be smiling and joking. Takuya kept his problems to himself. The others would think if they did appear it would stem from Duskmon (still a sore point to Kouichi as he watered the gogglehead with careful eyes). It wasn’t as though that  _ wasn’t _ the case. Duskmon had opened his eyes to the reality of death. 

Being leader wasn’t fun and games. Sure he was carefree on the outside, but he took their safety with extra precaution. Duskmon was one pain, and they didn’t need to know about the rest. They didn’t need to know he still held the phantom pains of ShadowSeraphimon’s attack. The energy that flew through, him breaking through his spirit form while burning his human. ShadowSeraphimon lifting him by the head in a grip so tight he could have… He’d shake his head at the thought. He had problems, but no one needed to know. He’d be the leader they could all count on. 

This would go on for a while. Even weeks after their journey. However, there was a spike. It happened so subtly that Kouichi didn’t recognize it at first. That familiar sense of darkness that resided in him coupled by relief. Almost as if Lowemon was back with him. If he blinked too fast he would miss it.

* * *

 

It was small specks at first. He’d watch one of his friends during a group therapeutic session as they called it. Usually they were at one of their houses while their parents were out, in a room they could freely talk about what was bother them that week. It would lead up to the point where after they released that negativity, they could pick up Takuya’s brother and Katsuharu’s group and head to a mall or something to lighten the mood. He’d watch Tommy as he explained his current nightmare, and see a flicker. At the core of his heart there were specks of darkness. 

He rubbed his eyes and the spects were gone. But he’d change views to another person as they spoke and the same thing would happen. It was small specks, until he reached the gogglehead who’s radiant smiles lit up the room, talking about an event with Shinya instead of his own dreams. There… it wasn’t a speck, but a small orb swirling around his core. Like the others however, it left as he blinked. 

That. That he couldn’t have imagined. Specks could be seen as his vision going faulty, and possibly in need of glasses. But that orb, he could feel his own heart call out to. There was pain in their leader, but he never once said a word. 

“Kouichi… is something wrong?”  Takuya’s voice broke through his thoughts. He blinked, noticing everyone had turned to him, awaiting whatever he had to get off his chest.

He rubbed his eyes again and laughed, “Sorry… just feeling a little sleepy is all.”

Perhaps it was just a fluke. If he saw it again, he’d bring it up with Kouji.

The Light counterpart of the Yin Yang twins was having similar problems, though in an opposite sense. Instead of specks of darkness, he could see a radial light outline which clearly was  _ not _ a vision problem. In a similar sense they would be gone after he blinked. Luckily he had given his speech earlier, or the others would probably be giving him the same looks. 

Currently everyone was rather in a solemn mood, so it wasn’t a blinding light. That made him suspicious though once he looked at Takuya. Takuya… his best friend who acted like there was nothing in the world to worry about. Yeah he was shining more than the others. Like a flame though it would flicker ever so slightly before it just disappeared with a blink. Odd, but he wouldn’t say anything about it yet. Who would believe that nonsense?

For the more physical elements, the developments were subtle. JP could tell if there was going to be a storm, or when one of their phones was about to die. Tommy wasn’t as susceptible to the cold, normally out in forty degree weather before needing a jacket. He still brought one, at the insistence of his mother, but it wasn’t necessary unless it rained. Zoe’s wind seemed to pick up when they played sports together. Her throws much faster than anyone took into account and she could jump slightly higher. For Takuya, the change was subtle. The heat didn’t bother him as much as it used to. Harmless right?

* * *

 

Finally, on a Saturday a few weeks later, the issue had become apparent. It was one of the first times Takuya had woken up first. He was a horrible cook, something that he and Kouji would likely take to their graves after the burger fiasco in the digital world. But he could at least (maybe) cook eggs for everyone. After all, how hard could it be?

Apparently very, as the stove refused to work. No matter what he tried or what knob he turned, it just wouldn’t light. Ugh he just wanted to do something nice for his friends and his little brother. Maybe he could just start a small campfire outside and hoped that work. Still, he kept trying.

“Just light you stupid thing!” He threw his hands down, annoyance flowing through him. 

“Nii-san… stop yelling, you’re going to wake everyone up.” Another oddity of the morning was Shinya being awake just as early as him. Maybe it was an omen caused by the damn stove. 

“Sorry. The stoves not working. Did Mom or Dad say anything about it?” He asked, staring down at the ingredients he got out. He picked up the basil before shrugging. Guess no eggs.

“No? Are you sure you tried everything?” Shinya asked, rubbing his eyes. 

“Just about everything aside from kicking it,” He snorted. Actually that was an idea, though the knobs were now turned in an off position. He turned back to the stove and gave it a gentle kick. Really no force behind it. Still not a peep out of it. He twitched trying the kick again. 

Nothing. But the smell of smoke now entered his nose.

“Nii-san! What did you do!?” Shinya yelped, realizing the situation. The basil in his hand had suddenly caught up in flame. Takuya hadn’t even felt the heat as the plant began to burn up. 

He immediately dropped the ingredient on the ceramic floor, trying to stomp out the flame. After all if you suffocate a fire it would stop right?  “It just caught on fire!?”

But no, with his panic the fire only grew bigger. Behind him, Shinya ran to find the fire extinguisher. It wasn’t as though the fire was hurting Takuya. No, even as the flames flickered in his face he barely felt a thing. But if it spread, surely it would consume the house. ‘Go out. Go out!’

The smoke caused the fire alarm to start ringing. If the others weren’t awake from the brother’s screaming, then that would surely wake them up. Kouichi was already at the doorway, staring at the situation. “What happened?”

“I… I don’t know. I was trying to get the stove working and then the basil just caught on fire.” He explained. He really should stop stomping. It was useless from his attempts. Unfortunately the sink was cut off from slowly growing fire. At least it was slow, only seeming to grow as Takuya panicked. 

Shinya pushed past Kouichi with the fire extinguisher, careful not to knock over the older boy. Kouichi kept his eyes set on Takuya, observing the younger teen. Takuya immediately set up the fire extinguisher to stop the flame, a sliver of black slipping into his core again. He shook his head and grabbed a newspaper. As the fire died out he directed the smoke away from the detector, hoping to stop the sounds. “Well… that’s a way to wake everyone up.”

The Flame Warrior only sighed, slumping on the floor next to Shinya. “I know I’m a bad cook… but I didn’t think I could make something combust just by holding it.”

“Well… at least you haven’t burned water yet?” Shinya laughed. 

“Awww man, don’t jinx me Shinya!” The older Kanbara groaned before glancing back toward Kouichi. As much as they could joke… that was no normal occurance. But what did it mean?

“It was a nice thought at least Takky,” Kouichi gave the boy a smile after a few moments had past. With the smoke backing away he could check on them both and help them off. “Let’s clean this up and think of another breakfast…”

* * *

 

There wasn’t another incident for a few hours. Takuya had calmed down, lost in his own thoughts. It seemed that when he was calm the fire was dormant from Kouichi’s observations. They agreed to discuss it in private in case it was a fluke. Perhaps if it wasn’t he could tell the boy about what he was seeing. 

The next incident, all eleven of them were at the park. Luckily, no one else seemed to be around, but they couldn’t overlook what happened unlike that morning. 

Frisbee was one of the many sports they played. Staying indoors for too long felt suffocating so whenever they could go out and about they would take the chance. In this particular event, JP had thrown the frisbee with a little too much power. It flew high above everyone’s head. As one of the tallest, Zoe immediately took a running leap to catch the disk. 

There was no subtlety as the wind picked up around them, following the direction of the girl as she made her leap. Jumping higher than she ever had before, she caught the disk. With a smile she turned back, “I got it!”

But she hadn’t landed back on the ground like she thought. A light purple aura surrounded her as she glanced down. Only five feet in the air, she realized her mistake. Immediately she crossed her legs, looking down, “What the?”

“Z-Zoe?” Chiaki asked. 

“Please… tell me that I’m not the only one seeing Z floating…” JP said, frozen in his spot. 

Everyone else was stunned silent, causing the girl in question to go red. “Don’t just stand there! Help me!”

Her annoyance seemed to be the key to end the trance and flight. As soon as they escaped her lips, the purple aura disappeared and her descent began. Teruo and Kouji, as the closest, ran to break her fall. There… was no denying what just happened there. 

Something was definitely going on. Kouichi already began to form his own theory, but it seemed like Takuya did as well. Takuya held his head in his hands. Just how was he supposed to explain this to Shinya?

Kouichi gently placed a hand on his shoulder, “Looks like we’ve both figured it out.”

“Yeah… We should probably leave before anything else happens.” Takuya murmured, eyeing his brother. At least Shinya wasn’t freaking out. Rather the boy stared with the stars in his eyes. Yup.. a lot better than freaking out. 


End file.
